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Thursday, January 31, 2013

SFR Galaxy Awards 2013: Round Two by Donna S. Frelick

Best SFR Film of the
Year – Looper, written and directed
by Rian Johnson, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blount

This surprisingly thoughtful shoot-’em-up about gangsters in
the near-future takes us through alternate timelines to an ending worthy of a
Phillip K. Dick short story.Although
**SPOILER ALERT** the lovers in the tale don’t get their HEA, the romance is
the driving motivation of the characters’ actions throughout, qualifying the
film as an SF-with-strong-romantic-elements, at least.The acting is first-rate, and the ending
certainly stands out as one of cinema’s more creative resolutions to the time
travel paradox.

This sprawling epic spanned hundreds of years and dozens of
characters in six (or was it eight?) storylines, only a few of which were
romances set in the future.But those
were the best of the lot, both visually and dramatically.

Hottest Sizzle/Best
Couple of the Year – Man O’ War Christopher Redmond and Naval Intelligence
agent Louise Shaw from Skies of Fire: The
Ether Chronicles by Zoe Archer (Avon Books).

These two have a history that’s likely to burn up the
enhanced zeppelin he captains as part of this rip-roaring steampunk tale, but
Archer, author of the fast-paced historical adventure romance Blade of the Rose series, makes sure
they can’t escape each other.Neither
the plot nor their hearts allow them a breath of distance and the sexual
tension is thicker than the smoke of (frequent) battle!And when they finally give in to each
other?Wowser!Anybody got a fan?

Best Worldbuilding in
a Novel or Series – the Psy-Changling
series by Nalini Singh (Berkeley Sensation).

The alternate near-future Earth that Singh has created for
her series of ten SFR novels is engrossing, consistent and rich in detail.Her characters--be they ice-cold Psys,
without emotion and tied to the Net; tactile, emotional Changlings, fiercely
loyal and protective; or mere Humans, struggling to hold on to what is left of
their legacy—are finely drawn and a product of the world she has envisioned in
a way few writers can sustain over a single novel, much less a long
series.With Kiss of Snow (2012), the latest in the series, Singh deserves a
recognition she has long gone without in our subgenre (mostly because she is
thought of as a paranormal author).Yes,
some of her heroes and heroines change into leopards or wolves, but her world
is based on science, not magic or the supernatural.Nalini Singh belongs to SFR.

Dale Carnegie Prize
for Novel or Series Most Likely to Win Friends and Influence People –Born to Darkness, first in the Fighting Destiny SFR series by romance
superstar Suzanne Brockmann (Ballantine Books).

Hot alpha males, kickass heroines and the buzz of sexual
tension are par for the course in any of Brockmann’s military-romantic suspense
novels. But add in a crumbling, near-future Earth, genetic manipulation,
psychic talents, supercool weaponry and same-sex romantic subplots and this
highly popular author suddenly takes a rocket trip into our territory!Will her many readers follow?Let’s hope so, because if they like this
thrill-a-minute outing, maybe they’ll go looking for more titles like it.

A smart, sexy heroine, a hero who plays his cards close to
his vest, an intricate plot set in a desolate future and sex that comes very
late in the game—all elements that would appeal to the traditionalists among
us.Knox’s worldbuilding is convincingly
bleak and her characters fully belong in the world she shows us.A memorable effort.

Well, the title says it all, doesn’t it?This steampunk romance takes the action out
of the usual Victorian city of London
or New York (or occasionally the
American Wild West) and puts it in . . . Scotland?
Yes, the highlands of Scotland.
Well, technically the Hebrides Islands,
but close enough. There are men in kilts, including our brawny hero. There is
trouble with nasty giant squids (the kraken of the title). There is a spunky,
highly-educated heroine, daughter of a professor, of course. There are machines
and overwrought weapons galore. I’m just imagining the author trying to sell
this. “Well, it’s a steampunk/historical/highlander/adventure/horror/romance!”
Bravo to Carina Press for buying it.

About Donna S.
Frelick

Over the years I’ve been a Peace Corps Volunteer in West
Africa, endured the life of a government bureaucrat in Washington, D.C., raised
two girls (and helped raise one grandson), tried organic farming, worked as a
freelance journalist and editor, been a community activist, earned black belts
in two different styles of martial arts, and written four STAR TREK fanfic
novels (and a number of short stories) for “underground” publication.Five years ago I launched my science fiction
suspense romance writing career.In
2012, my first two SFR novels finaled in the Romance Writers of America® Golden
Heart® contest.I currently live in Fredericksburg,
Virginia with my husband and two talkative
cats.When I’m not writing, I teach tai
chi and karate and dream of moving to our 44 acres in the mountains north of Asheville,
North Carolina.